Electric water heater



July' 24, 1923. 1,462. 703

1 w. s. JONES ELECTRIC WATER HEATER Filed Sept. 13 1921 6 a H I 14 a lINVENTOR. WT S. Jones BY I ATTORNEY Patented July 24, 1923.

UNITED STATES WALTER S. JONES, OF ORWOOD, CALIFORNIA.

ELECTRIC WATER HEATER.

Application filed September 13, 1921.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, IVALTER S. JONES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Orwood, county of Contra Costa, State of California, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric ater I'Ieaters;and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had. to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which forma part of this application.

This invention relates to improvements in electric water heaters, theprincipal object being to provide a device which may be readily attachedto the outer end of an ordi nary water faucet, and so constructed thatwhen the water and current are turned on, a flow of hot water will issuefrom the heater, which heated flow will continue as long the current andwater are turned on.

Another object is to construct the device in such a manner that withoutan excess expenditure of current, the water will be almostinstantaneously heated upon emerging from the faucet.

-The device is therefore admirably adapted for domestic service in thelavatory or kitchen permitting as it does a supply of hot water beinghad, at'any time of the day or night.

Another advantage my device has over the ordinary form of gas andsimilar heater lies in the fact that no current is wasted in heating aquantity of water greater than it is intended to be used at the time,thereby cutting down the cost of operation to a minimum.

The above advantage of course is possessed by the Ruud and similar gasheaters, but considering the complexity of structure and piping, and theconsequent expense of installation of the latter, there can be nocomparison between these devices and mine, which is small and compact,and relatively inexpensive and has no parts liable to become deranged.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of my improved heater.

Serial No. 500,389.

Fig. 2 is a cross section thereof taken on a line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the numeral 1 denotes a casing, preferably of metal and linedor covered as at 2 with any suitable heat insulation material, toprevent radiation of heat.

This casing is open on top, and preferably cup shaped at the bottom,being closed at that end except for a central outlet 3 of suitable size.Adapted to be screwed or other wise removably secured in the upper endof the casing is a cap 4, having a centrally located intake member 5,provided with a union nut 6 whereby it may be screwed onto athreaded-end faucet or bibb cock.

Removably screwed or otherwise fixed in the cap and surrounding theinlet in close relation to each other is a plurality of tubes 7 of somegood heat radiating material, which are closed on the bottom and extendinwardly of the casing to a point adjacent the outlet end thereof andlie substantially parallel to the sides of the casing. In each tube, andelectrically insulated therefrom as at 8, is an electric heating coil 9or other heating element, all these coils being connected in series withan ordinary form of extension cord 10 having a plug 11 to fit anystandard socket.

In order to enclose and conceal the connections between the variouscoils, both for safety and neatness of appearance, the cap 4 ispreferably cup shaped as shown, the various leads projecting into thecup portion, and the latter being then filled in with a compositioninsulating wax 12 such as is on the market.

The current may be turned on from the socket connection, or anindividual switch may be provided in or adjacent the casing, as may befound most practicable.

Positioned transversely in the casing at spaced intervals are screens13, of exceedingly fine mesh, through which the tubes 7 of course pass,thus dividing the easing into a number of separate compartments. Theobject of these screens is to retard the passage of the water throughthe casing as long as possible, while permitting it to finally emerge,so that the water entering the casing from the faucet will be heldtherein long enough to absorb a generous amount of heat from the coils.

As many coil-tubes are used as can be lit placed inthe casing, with but.little space therebetween, so as to present the maximum of heatradiating surface to the water, but since there can be no tube directlydown the center 01 the casing, or wherever the intake 5 is located andon account f the latter, the uppermost screen, and the remainder ifdesired, has a central solid plate 14% thereon extending to the tubessurrounding this vacantcentral'area. The watertherefore, entering thecasing witlr considerable force fromthefaucet, will-first strike againstthis solid plate, and instead of tending to pass directly through intothe next chamber, will be divertedjtoward the sides. of the casingandbetween and around the hot tubes, thereby aiding in the rapidheatingof the water.

\Vhile this device is particularly described as being intended forattachment to a faucet, and may be readily changed from one to anotherat will, by providing both the in take and outlet of the casing withpipe coupling, or unionmembers, the device may be permanently installed,either vertically or horizontally, in the piping system, of thebuilding.

The cap etbeing removable, the tubes may be. inspected for corrosionetc. at any time, andithe tubes themselves. being also removable, thecoils may likewise be inspected and replaced: when necessary.

Erom theforegoing description it will'be readily seen that I haveproduced such a device "as substantially fulfillsthe objects of theinvention as set forth herein.

While this specificationsets forth in de tail the present and preferredconstruction of the; device, still 'in practice such deviationsfrom-such detail may be resorted to as donot form a departure from thespirit of the; in-vention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my. invention, what I claim as new and usefulanddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An electric water heater comprising a casing adapted to be filledwith Water and connected at one end to a source of water supply andprovided with an outlet at the other end, said casing being divided intoa plurality of compartments between the intake and outlet of the casing,electric heating elements in the casing projecting' into thecompartments, and means for retarding the passage of the water into andout of the compartments from the intake to the o tlet of the casing.

2. An electric water. heater comprisi g a casing adapted to be connectedat one end to a source of water supply and provided with an outlet atthe other end, electric heating elements in the casing insulatedtherefrom and from the water, and transversely disposed and spacedfine-mesh screens in the casing whereby to divide the latter into anumber of compartments, the heating elements projecting into thecompartments.v

3. An electric water heater comprising a tubular casing open at one endandiprovided with an outlet at the other end, a cup-shaped capsecuredonto the casing at its open end, and provided with a water-intakemember, a plurality of heat radiating and enclosed tubes projectinglengthwise and inwardly of thecasing from the cap, anelectric heatingelement in each tube, the terminals of said elements projecting into thecup portion of the cap and being there connected together in a circuit,and a filling of insulating material withw-hich the cap is then filled,an an extension cord leading from the cap anE connected to theelement-terminals, an adapted for connection to a source of; cur rent.

Intestimonywhereof I afiix my signature.

WALTERS. JONES.

